Vuelta a Espana: Pinot wins stage 19 atop Coll de la Rabassa

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Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) took a huge step towards securing overall victory at the Vuelta a Espana on the first of two final mountain stage in Andorra, distancing biggest rival Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on the 2,025 metre high Coll de la Rabassa climb and extending his overall lead to 1:38 over the Spaniard.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) won the stage after being able to stay with Yates, with Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) third at 13 seconds after he was distanced by the two in the final kilometre.

Valverde suffered on the climb, and despite some help from teammate Nairo Quintana, he finished eighth and lost 1:12. Thanks to also taking a six-second time bonus, Yates now leads Valverde by 1:38, with only Saturday’s short but climb-packed mountain stage to Coll de la Gallina separating the Briton from overall victory in Madrid. Kruijswijk moved up to third overall ahead of Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors), 1:50 down on Yates.

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Valverde’s Movistar team had tried to control the stage, chasing down all the breakaway attempts on the flat and valley roads, in the hope the veteran Spaniard could win the stage and take a vital time bonus. However, Yates courageously turned the tables on Movistar. He took the initiative with 10km to race on the final climb, attacked hard, powered across to Quintana, Pinot and Kruijswijk and then drove all the way to the finish.

He blew away any suggestions that he was under pressure and about to crack as he did in the Giro d’Italia.

“I felt good. I felt good myself when I tried. The team did a fantastic job again. Jack [Haig] did a really good job to set me up before I went away, and Adam [Yates] was always behind in case I came back, so we did a fantastic job,” Yates said happily but cautiously about Saturday’s final mountain stage.

“I'm very wary of tomorrow. I'll try to stay focused now and of course enjoy the day, but really it's not over until it's over.”

Pinot was happy with his second stage win in the mountains of the Vuelta a Espana after being able to hold onto Yates and even help with the pacing.

“It is the icing on the cake,” Pinot said after also winning at Lagos de Covadonga last Sunday.

“I didn’t think that I would do it. I wasn’t feeling good on Wednesday but I found my legs again. I just wanted to have fun and give it a try. It was a nice stage today. I really wanted to attack early.”

The Frenchman admitted that he was scared Yates was so strong that he would drop him before the finish.

“I was scared of him. I think he knows the climb really well, so he knew exactly where to go and he knew what he was doing. He knew that Alejandro Valverde wasn’t that good so it was a good moment.

How it unfolded

The tension was high at the start in Lleida as the riders expected an aggressive stage and feared the 17km climb to the finish on the Coll de la Rabassa.

Simon Yates reminded everyone that he has lived in Andorra since 2015 and knows the roads of the final mountain stages, while Valverde tried to ride the wave of support for a Spanish winner. Only one of them would emerge from the Pyrenees and be crowned the winner of the 2018 Vuelta a Espana in Madrid.

The flat open roads towards the Pyrenees were perfect for attacks and they came one after another despite almost three weeks of racing. Nothing stuck until the fatigue began to hurt and Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) got away with Simon Clarke (EF Education First-Drapac) and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Dimension Data) after 40km.

Movistar flexed their muscles by leading the chase and so Clarke eased up with 100km to race. The other two were eventually chased down, but other riders jumped across before the peloton came back together to form a new break of 12. Movistar chased yet again, lining out the peloton and then closing down the move despite Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky) trying his hand.

The British WorldTour team continued to race hard, and Jonathan Castroviejo made sure he was in the next attack with Tom Van Asbroeck (EF Education First-Drapac) and Benjamin Thomas (Groupama-FDJ) that went away with 80km to go. Van Asbroeck soon sat up but the other two were allowed open a 1:30 lead as Movistar kept the race under control. The riders covered 90km in the first two hours of racing.

The stage remained finely balanced as the Pyrenees loomed larger and larger into view and the kilometres kicked down to the foot of the climb.

The quiet before the storm was broken by Movistar with 34km when they sensed a chance to attack on an exposed road.

For several minutes the Movistar riders, with several Quick-Step Floors riders joining in the fun, tried to drag a small group clear. The lined-out peloton snapped for a moment, and Simon Yates was not up front with Movistar, sparking panic. However, Mitchelton-Scott kept their cool and Bora-Hansgrohe dragged the peloton up to Movistar, ending the emergency.

Castroviejo and Thomas were caught at the very foot of the 17km Coll de la Rabassa climb after entering Andorra. They shook hands, congratulating each other on their effort but there was no freedom for a minor breakaway. Today was all about the fight for general classification and the best climbers.

Quintana was the first to take on the race as he looked to try to win the stage. He surged away with 13km to go, with George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) helping Kruijswijk join him. After Bennett was distanced, his work done, Pinot attacked the group and joined the attack, making the move even more interesting.

Simon Yates had teammate Haig and twin brother Adam to help with the chase. However, he didn’t need it and threw caution to the wind by attacking alone in the big chainring. Valverde was unable to respond and was left in the group of riders fighting for the less placing in the overall classification.

Simon Yates soon joined Quintana, Kruijswijk and Pinot and even upped the pace. Valverde struggled behind, obliging Mas and others to lead the chase. The gap rose constantly, to 15, 20, 25, and then 30 seconds, with Yates doing huge turns on the front as the gradient eased the kilometres ticked down. It was the turning point of the Vuelta a Espana.

Quintana was ordered to drop back to help Valverde, but a flat with six kilometres to go forced him to change bikes and he was soon dropped. His attack proved to be way over ambitious and left Valverde exposed. Simon Yates had found a weakness and landed a huge blow as Valverde struggled at altitude.

With three kilometres to go Yates, Pinot and Kruijswijk lead by over a minute. Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) was alone chasing in the middle, with Mas, Lopez and Uran able to attack a struggling Valverde as they fought for every second and every spot in the top ten.

Pinot was able to distance Yates briefly, but he did not care. He had finally stamped his authority on the 2018 Vuelta a Espana. 

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